Curtain display device



July 7, 1942. J. b. ROBERTSON CURTAIN DISPLAY DEVICE Filed May 9, 1939 22AM. WWQ w \-Y 8 2 w/ m7 w/ a w r M/ wi M I a a v y z W! y 7, 1942 J. D.ROBERTSON 2,289,042

CURTAIN DISPLAY DEVICE Filed May 9, 1939 3 Shets-Sheet 2 I I I y ,1 J.D. ROBERTSON 2,289,042

CURTAIN DISPLAY DEVICE Filed May 9, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 '48 jrlven701;

Patented July 7, 1942 i CURTAIN DISPLAY DEVICE John Douglas Robertson,flaunton, Mass, assignor to Robertson Factories, 1nc., Taunton, 'Mass.,a corporation of Connecticut Application May 9, 1939, Serial No. 272,587

13 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in display devices andparticularly to display devices of the type having a collection ofpivotally mounted side-wise disposed brackets on which articles andparticularly curtains to be displayed may be suspended, the bracketsbeing capable of being swung away from any selected bracket to morecompletely expose the article on the selected bracket. v

The display of articles by suspending them upon pivotally mountedbrackets, while convenient, has not been entirely satisfactory. It isapparent that when a number of the pivotally mounted brackets are swungcollectively there is relative movement between the brackets whichcauses the articles suspended thereon to rub against each other if incontact and'impair the appearance of delicate suspended articles likecurtains or draperies; To overcome this difficulty and to prevent thesuspended articles from rubbing against each other, it has been proposedto provide spacer members attached to' the'pivotally mounted brackets.These spacer members, however, have not remedied all of the objectionsto the prior devices.' In some cases the spacer members have notentirely eliminated undesired rubbing contact between the suspendedarticles or have resulted in constructions which were expensive to buildor prevented easy removal from or placing of the articles on .thebrackets. For example, in displaying curtains it is desirable to providea construction which not only prevents the curtains from coming intocontact with each other but also a construction which permits thecurtains to be easily put on and removed from the display device. Thisis particularly important in headed. curtains having rufiled edges, toinsure that the rutiied headings will not be cru'shedin' any position ofthe supporting devices,

One object of the present invention is to provide an improved displaydevice wherein" the above mentioned difi'iculties will be overcome andwherein the suspended articles will be prevented from coming intoundesired contact with each other.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a display devicehaving a plurality of pivotally mounted article supporting bracketsprovided with spacing members to maintain the brackets spaced from eachother, and so arranged that the articles can be mounted on and removedfrom the brackets without removing parts thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a display device havingimproved means for suspending articles at both sides of asubstantially'horizontally positioned pivotally mounted supportingmember. To this end, another feature'of the invention resides inimproved suspending means having substantially parallel spaced armsspaced from the sides of a supporting member, this suspending meansbeing fixed to the supporting member at one end and releasably securedor hooked to the supporting member at its other end.

A yet further object is the provision of a series of swinging displaybrackets each having a cam member that engages a part of the immediatelyadjacent bracket to hold the brackets apart and to transmit the swingingmotion imparted to one bracket to the contacting series of brackets, thecam members being so arranged that they can overlap or nest in closepositions of the brackets and also so arranged that the closed seriescan be opened at any desired bracket, the cam members also being solocated and arranged that they do not interfere with the mounting of thearticles on the brackets or their removal therefrom.

The collection of display brackets is adapted to be mounted upon a wallor equivalent support to swing from one position approximately parallelwith the wall across the normal to the wall, to a similar oppositeparallel position. It is an object of the present i-nventionto mount thedisplay brackets in such manner that they are biased for movement into apredetermined position from a different position thereof andparticularly for movement towardthewall from any displaced position, sothat an unselected'bracket will automatically sta away from a selectedbracket that is held generally normal to the wall, thereby to facilitatethe display of the article on the selected bracket,

A further object is the provision of a collection of swinging displaybrackets having spacing means, the spacing means of one bracket engaginga part of an adjacent bracket, the spacing means and brackets havingcooperating parts that limit the swinging movement of the brackets.

A still further object of the invention is to improve generally theconstruction of article display devices.

With the above and other objects and features in view, the inventionwill now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a viewin elevation illustrating one embodiment of the presentinvention;

Fig. la is a sectional detail taken along line Ila-4a of Fig. 1 andillustrating particularly a spacer member at the bottom part of theframe.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the device of Fig. 1 and which shows oneextreme position of the supporting members in dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a View, partly in section, of the means for securing thearticle supporting or suspending members taken along the line 33 of Fig.2;

Fig. 4 is a view, partly in section, taken. along the line l4 of Fig. 2showing the spacer member in end elevation;

Fig. 5 is a view in front elevation showing the spacer memberillustrated in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation illustrating a modified form of a spacingmember;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a view on an enlarged scale partly in section illustrating thespacing member shown in Figs. 6 and 7, taken along the line 38 of Fig.7;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view illustrating a still further modification ofthe spacing mechanism;

Fig. 10 is an elevational view illustrating a modifying form of displaydevices;

Fig. 11 is a view in end elevation showing a section of an end elevationof the spacing means shown in Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a plan view, on an enlarged scale, of means used for securinga suspending member tothe display device shown in Fig. 10

Fig. 13 is an end View partly in section of the securing means shown inFig. 12, taken along line l3l3 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary plan View of a modification illustrating amethod of securing the spacing member to the spacing means;

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary end elevation of the modification shown in Fig.14;

Fig. 16 is a fragmentary plan view of a still further modification forsecuring the spacing members to their respective brackets; and

Fig. 17 is a view in front elevation of the modification of theinvention shown in Fig. 16.

Referring now to Fig. 1 of thedrawings which illustrates one embodimentof the present invention which is particularly adapted for displayingcurtains, the device is formed to simulate a window and includes a framemember 20 which is pivotally mounted upon substantially horizontal fixedsupporting members 22, specifically angle bars. The frame member 20 isformed of a plurality of rods which are welded or other- Wise suitablysecured together. The frame includes a. rod 24 which is circular incross-section and the ends of which are bent downwardly to form verticalpivot members 25 for the frame. As illustrated, the member 24 is made ofone piece and forms three sides of the frame, namely, the top, bottomand the outer side. A separate inner side member 26 is secured bywelding to the member 24 adjacent to the pivot members 25. The framemember 20 is also provided with window-simulating vertical rods 26 andhorizontal rods 36 which are secured at their ends to the members 24 and26 by welding and are secured to each other at the points where theyintersect by welding or any other suitable means. The middle horizontalmember 36 is provided with a downwardly extending pivot member 3| whichcooperates with the pivot members 25 to provide pivotal support for theframe 26.

The plurality of frame members 20 as shown in Fig. l are pivotallyconnected to the fixed horizontal supporting members 22 on suitablyspaced centers. Thus, a substantial separation of the frame members 20is insured when the members 20 are extended at right angles to thehorizontal supporting members 2.

To insure that the frames 20 will tend to stay in their extremepositions close to the supporting members on the wall which carries saidmembers, the frame is so mounted that the forward part of the frame ishigher than the rear part. To this end, the uppermost member 22 isprovided with a pivot hole for the pivot member 25 located a certaindistance from the vertical wall or other member carrying the horizontalsupport 22. The pivot holes for the other two pivot members are locatedprogressively increased distances outwardly of the wall, or the verticalline of the uppermost pivot member. Thus the line of the pivotal supportis displaced more at the bottom than at the top in a plane normal to thewall and hence the frame is caused to be tilted and to be biased forswinging movement as described. It is apparent that, by so hanging theframe members, they will tend to swing toward the wall and tend toremain in such extreme position.

Each of the frame members 20 is provided with means for suspending acurtain or other article. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, each frame member 29is provided at the top part thereof with an elongated horizontalU-shaped resilient member 32 which supports the curtains or the like.Said member is rigidly secured at its closed end to the upper portion ofthe frame member 20 adjacent to the pivoted end thereof. As shown mostclearly in Fig. 3, the closed end of the elongated member 32 is bentdownwardly and welded or otherwise suitably secured to the frame member24. A securing hook 34 is provided to secure the elongated member 32more firmly and rigidly to the frame member 24. This hook 3a is weldedto the lower surface of the member 24, the hooked end portions 35thereof extending upwardly and inwardly thereabove.

The horizontal resilient arms 33 of the elongated member 32 are locatedwithin these hooks and are welded thereto at their points of contact. Itis to be noted that the arms of the elongated member 32 are so spacedlaterally on each side of the frame 24 that there is substantialclearance between the member 24 and the respective arms. It is to benoted that this method of securing the elongated suspending member 32 tothe frame insures that the arms of the member 33 will be in asubstantially horizontal plane. The forward end parts of the arms arehooked releasably to the frame by means of a hook member 36 which is ofsubstantially the same shape as or identical with the hook member 3%.This hook member 36 is secured to the frame member 24 by welding. Thus,the free ends of the re silient arms of the elongated member 33 can bepressed toward each other and inserted between and under the upper endor hook parts 31 of the hook 36 which holds them, releasably inposition. The ends of the arms of the suspending member 32 because ofthe natural springiness of the metal from which they are formed, arenormally widely separated and when they are placed within the hookmember 36, bear against the inner partof the hooks 36 and consequentlyare not readily accidently removed therefrom. This method of detachablysecuring the forward ends of the arms of the elongated member 32 insuresthat curtains or other articles may readily be applied to or removedfrom the arms, since it is necessary only to remove either one or bothof the arms from the hook member 36 and, since these ends are straight,and there are no obstructing parts in front of the ends, removal of thecurtains is not interfered with. For the same reason, curtains mayeasily be threaded on these arms.

The supporting frames are maintained in spaced relation to each other inall positions by spacing members 38, which prevent adjacent frames fromrubbing against each other and provide ample room for curtains suspendedon and between the frames and also effect the parallel swinging of theframes. As shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5, these spacing members 38 mayeach be formed as an extension of one of the vertical bars or rods 28 ofthe frame.

As shown most clearly in Figs. 4 and 5, the rod 28 extends upwardlybeyond the top of the frame 20 to form a substantially straight verticalupstanding portion 40. The rod is bent backwardly and rearwardly to forma gooseneck section 42. The rod is then bent to the right to form anapproximately straight section 43 and then rearwardly and forwardly toform an arcuate cam section 44. The rod is then bent to the right toform a second and approximately straight section with the end of the rodextending beyond the gooseneck section 42. free end of the rod is thenwelded or otherwise suitably secured adjacent to the gooseneck section42.

The cam section 44 is formed as shown in Fig.

2, in such manner as to permit relatively easy movement betweenindividual supporting members 20 when they are in the dotted lineposition shown in Fig. 2. In other words, the cam is formed with an easyrise at the beginning of movement in either direction. This, of course,

makes it easier to rotate the frames. The cam section 44 on onesupporting frame is arranged to engage the upstanding substantiallystraight vertical section 48 of the spacing members of the adjacentframe in all positions of the same when they are moved collectively, theline of contact rising and falling and also moving over the cam surfaceduring the parallel swinging movement of the frames. The supportingframes Zil are separated a maximum distance when they are rotated atsubstantially right angles to the supporting members 22 in which theyare pivotally mounted and a minimum distance when the supporting framesreach the extreme limits of their movements toward these horizontalsupporting members. It is to be noted that the cam ma. bers are inclineddownwardly so that adjacent cam members can overlap or nest asillustrated in Fig. 2 when the frames are close to the wall. At the endsof the cam section 44 the rod is provided with outward bends 4! whichprovided recesses between the cam sections and the bends into which theupstanding part 40 of the rod of the next adjacent display device isseated at the ends of the swing of the two display devices. Thisprovides definite stops or limiting means that defines the extent ofswing. Parts of a display device, as the loop 34 also engage the edge ofthe upper supporting member 22, to limit the swing of the displaydevices in the direction of the wall.

The spacing members may be formed in different ways to obtainsubstantially the same results as those obtained with the spacing member42 shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4,and 5. In Fig. 6, a

This 53 spacing member 48 is provided which is substantially .circularin shape. As illustrated, the spacing member 48 is formed of a pluralityof contacting turns of square wire. The ends of the square wire areturned inwardly and downwardly and are secured to the top of asupporting member 50 which may be in the form of a single strand rod, asshown in Fig. 6, or which may be in the form of the supporting frame 20described above. In this construction, the spacin members 48 arearranged to engage the peripheries of adjacent spacing members 48. It isapparent that this form of spacing member operates effectively toprevent undesired contact between the articles hung on adjacentsupporting members 58. The rods 50, shown in Figs. 6 and '7, areprovided with article suspending rods 52 which are substantiallyidentical to the form shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5. The closed end ofthe member '52 is secured to the supporting rod 50 by welding and ismaintained in horizontal position by a hook member 56 which is of thesame shape as the hook member 34 shown in Fig. 3. The free ends of thearms of the rod 52 are maintained substantially in parallelism by andare held releasably by a hooked member 58 which is welded to the freeend of the supporting member or rod 50.

The rods 50 may be pivotally supported in the manner hereinbeforedescribed to bias the rods for movement by gravity toward the supportingwall in either direction from an intermediate position.

The circular spacing members 48 are prevented from moving into deadcenter positions, in which position a swinging force applied to onesupporting member could not move the next adjacent member, by causing apart of the supporting member, as the hook 56, to engage the wallbracket 22 in such position as to prevent movement of the supportinmember into such dead center position.

Fig. 9 illustrates still another form of spacing member 65 which isformed from a thin fiat strip of metal. The spacing member 60 iscircular and is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed downwardlyextending legs 62 which are welded to the top of the supporting member58. The member 60 operates to maintain the supporting rod or members 50spaced from each other in the same manner that the spacing mem bers 48operate.

Fig. 10 of the drawings discloses still another modification of theinvention wherein a supporting rod 64 is pivotally mounted at one end ina bracket 66. The rod 64 is substantially straight and is bentdownwardly at one end to fit into holes formed in the supporting memberor bracket 66. In this form of the invention, there is provided a singlearticle suspending rod 68 which is secured to the supporting rod 64 by ahooked securing member 1|]. As shown most clearly in Fig. 12, thesecuring member 16 is formed from relatively heavy wire and encirclesthe supporting rod 64 and is welded or otherwise suitably securedthereto. The ends of the wire are curved upwardly and inwardly toreceive the bent end of the article suspending rod 68. The bent endportion of the rod 68 is secured to these upstanding hooked portions ofthe securing member 10 by weldin or other suitable means.

The forward or free end of the article suspending rod 68 is maintainedin article suspending position by another securing member 12 which issubstantially the same as andwhich is formed and secured to the free endof the supporting rod 64 in the same manner as the securing member 10.modification only one article suspending rod 68 is used but it isapparent that article suspending rods located at opposite sides of thesupporting member 64 could be used if desired.

The device shown in Fig. is also provided with a spacing member 14. Thisspacing member 1'4 is provided with a lower end portion arrangedpartially to encircle the supporting rod 64 and is secured thereto bywelding or other suitable means. The rod is then extended substantiallyvertically to form a straight section 16 adapted to be engaged by theadjacent spacing member. The wire is then bent downwardly and rearwadlyto form a section 18. The wire is then bent toward the right and thenrearwardly and forwardly to form a cam section 80. The wire is then benttoward the right and downwardly, the free end of the wire or rod beingbent into substantially circular shape to fit the rod 64 to which thefree end is welded. The cam portion 80 of the spacing member 14 is ofsubstantially the same shape as the cam member 44 shown in Fig.2.

The section 18 forms an abutment or head that overhangs the top part ofthe vertical member 1'5 and prevents the cam member of the next adjacenthanger from sliding upwardly off the end of the member 16.

Figs. 14 to 17, inclusive, show still different forms of spacingmembers. In Figs. 14 and 15, the spacing member 90 is formed in thegeneral shape of the spacing members 30 shown in Figs. 2 and 10 but thespacing member is made of two pieces, a cam section 92 and a supportingmember 94. As shown in Fig. 15, the supporting member 94 is in the formof a substantially vertical loop, the lower end of which is secured to ahorizontal pivoted supporting member 96. The cam section 92 is formed ofone continuous piece of wire, the ends of which cross and are securedtogether by welding at the point of crossing 98. The forwardly extendingends of cam section 92 are secured to the top of the spacing member 514at opposite sides thereof by welding.

Figs. 16 and 17 disclose a spacing member I02 which is substantially thesame as the spacing member shown in Fig. 2 but which is not formed as anextension of one of the vertical rods 39. The member N32 is providedwith a substantially straight vertical supporting section I04 having atits lower end a portion I06 bent substantially at right angles to theportion I64 and secured to a supporting rod or member I68 at two spacedpoints by welding.

The spacing members shown in Figs. 2, 1'0, 14 and 17 are so shaped thatthe cam sections of these respective spacing members are inclineddownwardly away from the supporting section ends so that these membersmay nest as their associated supporting rods or frames are moved intotheir extreme positions. This insures that the spacing members will notlock or interfere with each other during movement into and out of theirextreme positions.

When the frames 20 of Figs. 1 and 2 are swung about their pivots forpositioning a selected frame and the curtain thereon in displayposition, a frame is usually grasped by the outer wire 29 and pushed orpulled sidewise, thereby moving, through the top spacers, all the framesin front of it. The frames are .broad and the wires are light. Thus whenthe salesperson attempts to swing the frames rapidly and thus applies acon- It is to be noted that in this siderable pressure on the outerwire, there'is a tendency for the frame to warp and displace thelowermost outer corner of the frame forwardly of the normal plane of theframe so that it may enter and catch in the similar'corner of andinterlock with the next frame. To prevent such action the frames 20 atthe lower parts thereof and specifically at the lower outer cornersthereof are also provided with frame spacing means.

Said spacing means, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 1a, and 2, comprises aWire or rod H0 bent into U-shape to provide two closely confrontingparallel legs I I2, H4 disposed on opposite sides of the frame at thelower outer corner thereof and inclined diagonally. The bend H6 of thespacer encloses the outer vertical frame rod 20 above the corner and iswelded thereto and the end parts I I8, I20 of the spacer are separatelywelded to the opposite sides of the bottom frame rod 30a. The locationof the spacer is sufficiently close to the corner to prevent the framecorner of 'an adjacent frame from entering and interlocking therewith.The spacer construction described forms a convenient means foraccomplishing the desired result but equivalent means can be employ-ed.

The invention has been described with particular reference to severalembodiments thereof, but it is to be understood that the invention isnot to be limited thereto, but that changes may be made within the scopeof the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new andsecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a swinging display device, a pair of swinging members, articlesuspending rods carried by said swinging members having an anchored endpart and a free end part and constructed and arranged to receive thearticles over the free ends, said swinging members having spacing meansindependent of the free ends of said rods and one engageable with theother above said rods.

2. In a display device, a plurality of pivotally mounted articlesupporting members on which the articles are adapted to be threaded, andspacing means for maintaining said supporting members in spacedrelation, said spacing means being located out of contact with thesuspended articles and out of the path of application of the articles toand their removal from said supporting members.

3. In a display device, a plurality of pivotally mounted supportingmembers, article suspending means secured to said supporting members,and spacing members secured to said supporting members, said spacingmembers having a curved portion located above said supporting membersand arranged slidably to engage the spacing member on an adjacentsupporting member to maintain the supporting members spaced from eachother.

4. In a display device, a plurality of pivotally mounted supportingmembers, article suspending means secured to said supporting members,and spacing members, said spacing members having a substantiallystraight vertical portion secured to and located above said supportingmember, and a curved portion secured to the upper end portion of saidstraight portion and arranged to 5. In a display device, a plurality ofpivotally mounted supporting members, article suspending means securedto said supporting members, and means located above said supportingmembers for maintaining the supporting members in spaced relation, saidlast mentioned means having laterally extended parts arranged to overlapas the supporting members approach their limits of pivotal movement.

6. In a display device, a plurality of pivotally mounted supportingmembers, article suspending means secured to said supporting members,and spacing members having a substantially straight vertical portionsecured to said supporting members and a curved portion extending fromsaid straight portion and arranged to engage the substantially straightportion of said spacing members on adjacent supporting members.

7. In a display device, a plurality of pivotally mounted supportingmembers, article suspending means secured to said supporting members,and spacing members having a substantially straight vertical portionsecured to said supporting members and a curved portion extendingdownwardly away from said straight portion and arranged to engage thesubstantially straight portion of a spacing member on an adjacentsupporting member.

8. In a display device, a supporting member, supporting means pivotallymounted on said member, and an article suspending member comprising arod refiexed into U--shape to provide a pair of integral approximatelyparallel arms, said rod being fixed to said supporting means adjacent tothe reflexed part and the body portions of said arms being spaced fromand being free from fixed connection to said supporting means, saidsupporting means having means releasably engaging the free ends of saidarms.

9. In a display device, a pivotally mounted supporting member, articlesuspending means having a pair of substantially straight arms and aconnecting portion integral with said arms rigidly connected to saidsupporting member, means secured to said supporting member and to thearms of said supporting member adjacent to said connecting portion tosupport said suspending means in a plane substantially parallel to saidsupporting member, and a hook member secured to said supporting memberhaving a pair of opposed integral hooks to detachably secure the freeends of said arms to said supporting member to maintain said armssubstantially parallel to each other and to said opposite sides of saidsupporting member.

10. In a display device, a plurality of pivotally mounted supportingmembers, article suspending means secured to said supporting member,said suspending means having a downwardly bent end portion rigidlysecured to said supporting member and straight portions extending fromsaid downwardly bent portion, and means located above said suspendingmeans and connected to said supporting members for maintaining thesupporting members and the article suspending means carried thereby inspaced relation to each other.

11. In a display device, a pivotally mounted supporting member, articlesuspending means secured to said supporting member, said articlesuspending means having a pair of straight arms and a connecting portionrigidly connected to the supporting means, means secured to saidsupporting member and to the arms of said suspending member adjacent tosaid connecting portion to support said suspending means in a planesubstantially parallel to said suspending member, means secured to saidsupporting member detachably to secure the free ends of said arms tosaid supporting member and to maintain said arms substantially parallelto each other, and means secured to said supporting member above saidsuspending means for maintaining the supporting means in spacedrelation, said last mentioned means comprising a curved portion and asubstantially straight portion connecting said curved portion and saidsupporting member, the curved portion of said spacing member beingarranged to slidably engage the straight portion of an adjacent spacingmember to maintain the supporting members substantially in parallelism.

12. In a display device, a plurality of pivotally mounted articlesupporting members disposed side b side and adapted to swing about theirpivots, means carried by one member and enageable with the next adjacentmember for maintaining the spacing therebetween, and means for limitingthe swinging movement of said members, said spacing means including acam member carried by one supporting member and engageable with a partof the next adjacent supporting member, said cam member having astop-part which engages said adjacent member in a predetermined positionof the adjacent member to limit the swinging of said members.

13. In a display device, a pivotally mounted supporting member includinga horizontal rod having a pair of hook members near each end thereof,each hock member being fixed to said rod and extended upwardlythereabove and terminated in a pair of hooks located on opposite sidesof the rod, and an article suspending member comprising a rod bentmidway of its ends into U-shape and providing a pair of approximatelyparallel springy article-engaging arms, said U- shaped rod being securedin the hooks of one hook member near the bend and the free ends of saidarms being releasably engageable with the hooks of the other hookmember.

JOHN DOUGLAS ROBERTSON.

